Daily Fantasy 3 Stars 12/08/2009

In this section, I break down the top three fantasy hockey performers every night and cite why I chose them in particular. In addition, I will track the amount of times the players have received this honor and tally them at the end of the season. For the sake of clarity, I will be using Yahoo! standard categories (Forwards – G,A,+/-, PP, PIM, SOG; Goalies – W, GAA, SV%, SHO) and thus exclude player’s salaries.

Another good night around hockey. We witnessed the Flyers win their first game under new coach Peter Laviolette as well as a breakout performance in Nashville. In addition, the Anaheim Ducks finally snapped their four game losing streak with help from goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

THIRD STAR: Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-1) – Briere played solid game helping his team route the Islanders 6-2. The diminutive forward assisted on two goals, one a powerplay marker by Jeff Carter. In fact, both assists came on Carter markers, showing solid chemistry with an elite fantasy player. In addition, the 33-year-old took three shots on goal, sat four minutes in the box and finished the night a plus one. An impressive effort in which he contributed over five offensive categories.

SECOND STAR: Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers (0-1-0) – The second Flyer to make the cut, it certainly surprises this writer that this is his first mention on this list. Richards scored a shorthanded goal, a powerplay goal and assisted on Claude Giroux’s powerplay marker that ended the Islanders late period marker. Cannon took four shots on net and finished a plus two rating. If there is any opportunity to acquire this player, now would be the time to do it.

FIRST STAR: Martin Erat, Nashville Predators (2-0-0) – The best performance of the night came at the hands of this Predator right wing. Erat played a part in all of his team’s goals, scoring three goals and assisting on one more, as the Predators defeated the Canucks 4-2. Two of his four points came with the man advantage. The 28-year-old added five shots on net while posting a solid plus two rating, meaning he was not on the ice for a goal against at even strength. At this point he is on pace to return to his 50-60 point average, ensuring him a spot in deeper leagues.